In the context of an enhanced focus on racial inequalities in higher education, growing attention has been paid to the role of race and ethnicity as a specific theme in the university curriculum. However, few existing studies have engaged with a broad sample of views from educators about their experiences of teaching in this area. This article aims to address the gap by investigating UK university educators’ perspectives on teaching race and ethnicity and exploring this contested aspect of the curriculum with their students. It reports findings from a nationwide survey based on a quota sample drawn from 30 UK universities, including 224 educators teaching in the social sciences. The article presents descriptive statistics from the fixed-response survey items, alongside qualitative analysis of educators' open-ended survey responses, regarding curriculum approaches, classroom dynamics, confidence, training and support, with bivariate analyses examining variation by subject discipline and ethnic background. The findings underline the continued sensitive and contested nature of race and ethnicity in the university curriculum, and the need for more individualised training, subject-specific guidance, and institutional support, to ensure educators are adequately prepared for teaching these issues.